Paul rebukes W.H. in pro-Israel op-ed

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul blasted the White House’s response to a kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in a strongly worded column designed to highlight his pro-Israel credentials.

Paul, a potential GOP presidential contender who is often leery of interventionist foreign policy, has been highly critical of the more hawkish wing of the GOP, most recently in the debate over what to do in Iraq. But Paul also has been trying to show the Republican establishment that his overall approach to foreign affairs is not out of the mainstream, and his tough rhetoric in the National Review op-ed could be seen as another overture.

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In the column, Paul reiterated his call to end U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority, which reached a unity agreement with Hamas. Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by America and Israel, controls the Gaza Strip.

Paul, who has in the past introduced a bill to cut off the aid, referred to the kidnapping and killing of the Israeli teenagers to bolster his case. The boys’ deaths have rocked Israel, and, along with allegations of a reprisal killing of a Palestinian teen, threaten to trigger more violence in the area.

The White House has expressed outrage over the Israeli teens’ deaths, but it also has called for judiciousness in response, and Paul skewered the administration for urging a show of “restraint.”

“Children are murdered — please show restraint. Cafés and buses are bombed — please show restraint. Towns are victimized by hundreds of rockets — please show restraint while you bury your dead once again,” Paul wrote. “I think it is clear by now: Israel has shown remarkable restraint. It possesses a military with clear superiority over that of its Palestinian neighbors, yet it does not respond to threat after threat, provocation after provocation, with the type of force that would decisively end their conflict.

“But sometimes restraint can work against you,” he continued. “Sometimes you just have to say, enough is enough.”

Paul has a history of opposing foreign aid — including, at one time, to Israel, though his emphasis has since shifted to entities such as Egypt and the Palestinian Authority. But as he has taken steps toward a possible 2016 presidential bid, he has also upped his outreach to establishment figures over foreign policy issues, and is slated to give a major address on the topic in the next several months.